Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC) has been an Affiliate Member of the ICC since 2003 and, as per the 2014 census, boasts 4,350 cricketers and 80 dedicated cricket facilities. Recently, the SCC signed a lucrative three-year deal with MoneyGram, which is also one of the ICC’s valued partners. The SCC invested a large chunk from this sponsorship towards the staging of a domestic tournament in which 1,800 players from 106 clubs participated.

The SCC’s application for Associate Membership had been pre-approved by the ICC Development Committee during its October 2015 meeting, which was followed by a full application and an ICC inspection in March 2016.

The 53-member Full Council unanimously ratified the suspensions of the USA Cricket Association (USACA) and the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), which were suspended in June 2015 and April 2016, respectively.

“Both Nepal and the US are important Members of the ICC as they have tremendous talent and potential. The ICC, as part of its game and market development strategy, will continue to provide the countries with as much support as possible so that they can put in place good governance and cricket structures.